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This word signifies "change in substance," and it reflects the Roman Catholic doctrine that in the communion service, when the priest pronounces the words, "this is my body" and "this is my blood," the communion elements (bread and fruit of the vine) turn into the "real presence" of Christ. The d...
Two Greek words express the idea of immortality -- athanasia (no death), and aphtharsia (no corruption). In the absolute sense, only God possesses immortality, i.e., an underived and unending existence (1 Tim. 6:16). Concerning those who are created in God's image (human beings exclusively), we p...
The practice of baptism "for the dead" is mentioned once in the New Testament. "If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?" (1 Cor. 15:29). Though the passage is somewhat obscure, several things are evident: First, it gives no sanction to the modern practice (by Mormo...
The Greek term for "man" is anthropos. Plato suggested that the word reflects the idea of an "upward looking" one, hinting, perhaps, that man finds no rest upon this planet. He is ever searching for his Maker. The term "man" is used generically -- for human kind. "Let us make man in our image mal...
The name "Jesus" means "savior." "Christ" means "anointed." These names suggest that this noble person was "anointed" of God (Acts 10:38) to be prophet, priest, and king, and indeed, the Savior of the world (Matthew 1:21). The following facts about Jesus are paramount: • He existed eternally as t...
The Mishnah is the oldest part of the Talmud: a written collection of the Jewish oral law, the rabbinic rulings and traditions that developed over time. The name comes from a Hebrew word meaning "to repeat," reflecting the way these traditions were taught and memorized, by repetition, long before...
A covenant is an agreement between two parties. In some cases, the parties stand on equal footing, and each party contributes to the conditions of the covenant. It can be the case, however, that one of the parties is infinitely superior to the other, as in the case of God versus man. Accordingly,...
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the very foundation of Christianity. If the Lord was not raised, the religion of Christ is a hoax (cf. 1 Cor. 15:4; 14-19). The Savior's resurrection was foretold by the prophets (Psa. 16:8ff), and promised by Jesus himself (Jn. 2:19-22; Mt. 12:39...
The Talmud is an encyclopedia of Jewish cultural tradition that was designed to supplement the Hebrew Old Testament. It evolved over an era from about 450 B.C. to A.D. 500. The Talmud (from a Hebrew word which means "study") developed in two stages. The oldest was the Mishnah ("to repeat"), a col...
The Greek word skene (rendered "tabernacle") means a "tent." (a) The tabernacle of Moses' day was a tent of worship, designed by God, and provided for the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness of Sinai. It was the appointed place where Jehovah would "meet" with his people (Ex. 25-...
The original words that are rendered by the English "tempt" are employed in two broad senses in the Scriptures, depending upon the context in which they are found. First, the concept may be that of putting something to the "test" to determine its character. David did not want to use Saul's armor ...
The term "works" is a perfectly noble word; yet, in the minds of some, there is a distorted view of this biblical term. Especially has the Protestant world reacted negatively to Catholicism's "works system" -- an ideology contrary to the divine plan of redemption. This reaction, however, is itsel...
God is often referred to as a "Father" (107 times in the Gospel of John alone). The Scriptures use the term in several ways: God is the Father of all men in the sense that he is the Creator of humanity (cf. Mal. 2:10; Ezek. 18:4; Lk. 3:38; Acts 17:28). He is the Father of Jesus Christ (Mt. 3:17; ...
More than a dozen words are used in the Greek N.T. to represent various aspects of "sin" (e.g., bad, evil, transgression, iniquity, trespass, godless, unrighteous, etc.). The most frequently employed word is hamartia (173 times), which provides the picture of "missing the mark." The word is used ...
The noun "baptism" and the corresponding verb "baptize" come directly from Greek into English with only slight spelling changes. The word literally denotes to immerse, dip, or submerge. When used metaphorically, it suggests being overwhelmed. It takes several senses in the New Testament, dependin...
A "mediator" is a "go-between" (from mesos, "middle" and eimi "to go"). Ideally, the role of a mediator is to work for the reconciliation of parties that have become estranged. (a) Moses was a mediator between God and Israel. He delivered the law to the nation on behalf of Jehovah (Jn. 1:17; Gal....
"Predestination" is the idea that God determined something beforehand. The noun itself does not appear in the Bible, but the verb behind it does. The Greek term is proorizo (pro — "before" and horizo — "to mark out, to set a boundary"). It is found six times in the New Testament (Acts 4:28; Roman...
Homosexual activity is sexual intimacy between two persons of the same gender. This form of sexual conduct is uniformly condemned in the Bible. (a) It stands outside the divinely prescribed realm of authorized sexual gratification, i.e., the marriage union (Gen. 2:24; Mt. 19:4; 1 Cor. 7:2), and i...
Woman was fashioned from flesh and bone taken from the side of man (Gen. 2:21-24). Male and female qualities were designed by God (Mt. 19:4); these characteristics are not accidental developments of an imagined "evolutionary" process. The Hebrew term for "woman" is ishsha, thought to derive from ...
The term "grace" occurs about 155 times in the New Testament. The word relates to the Greek term chairo, meaning "to rejoice," and grace itself comes to mean favor, gratification, or gratitude -- depending on the context. The New Testament emphasizes that salvation is the result of God's grace (E...
